UWEC offers free house watch for students on break

Soon students at UW-Eau Claire will be home for the holidays and one group on campus wants to make sure their stuff is safe while they're away.

For the second year, the Student Senate has teamed up with campus police and the city's police department for the UW-Eau Claire House Watch. Students who live off-campus can register their addresses, for free, and a police officer will keep an eye on their home for as long as they're gone.

About 20 students have signed up already, but those who helped organize the effort say they're hoping for more per the request of local law enforcement.

"Lt. Webber from the Eau Claire Police Department actually reached out and said we'd like to market this as much as possible this year," UWEC student Jarrett Yuknis told News 18. "So it's almost a year where we'd like to get as many as possible so they can kind of judge themselves and see what kind of hours they need to accommodate this program and see what they can do with it."

There is no cut-off date for when students can register; they can even sign up while they're gone on break. The UWEC House Watch will be in effect over Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks.